I had 20 short stories published this year (21 if I count “Buried Eyes”, which appeared in 2012 in audio only). They include 5 “Central Station” stories, 3 “Continuity” stories (all of which are pure science fiction) and a mixture of fantasy, horror and non-fantastical stories. Of the 20, 1 story is an original Hebrew story, which I was delighted to see published.

I published 3 stories in Interzone. I had my first ever publications in Analog and Asimov’s, as well as Tor.com.

3 stories have been picked up for Year’s Bests anthologies so far. “The Bookseller” from Interzone, and “Only Human” from The Lowest Heaven will be in Gardner Dozois’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction, and “The Oracle”, from Analog, will be in Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy.

I think Dragonkin was my major weird-fantasy story this year. In science fiction, any of the ones above or perhaps The Long Road to the Deep North, which I am very fond of. But really, I like all of them… I’m vain that way.

I have 8 more stories scheduled for next year, but I’ve not been able to write any more for a long time. I have a couple of new stories I’d like to try and write, though, once the new book is out of the way at long last…

I forgot to mention this the other day, but my Bookman Histories novelette, “Murder in the Cathedral” will be published in a future issue of Asimov’s magazine.

It tells the never-before-told story of what really happened when Orphan went to France half-way through The Bookman. And begins with Orphan, coming across the Channel by ship, making a new friend…

‘Your name?’ the officer said. Herb was next.

‘Herbert George Wells,’ Herb said.

‘And your profession, monsieur?’

‘I am a writer.’

‘Oh,’ the French officer said, and raised his eyebrows. ‘What do you write, monsieur?’

Herb Blushed. ‘Scientific romance, that sort of thing,’ he mumbled, and Orphan, watching him, almost laughed despite his nervousness. But the French officer’s face lit up at the words. ‘ Roman scientifique?’ he said. ‘But that is marvellous! C’est bon! You are going to la convention du monde?’

‘Yes,’ Herb said, pleased and surprised. ‘You know of it?’

‘Of course!’ The officer reached under his desk and returned with a rather used-looking book. ‘See?’

Orphan craned his neck. It was a copy of Victor Hugo’s classic (for even Orphan had read it as a child), La Créature de la Lagune Noire. ‘Here in France, we honour such writings,’ the officer said, and he rose, and shook Herb’s hand. ‘Welcome, Mr. Wells. Welcome to France!’

I was in Poland last weekend for Polcon (which I hope to write about at more length later on) – but a part of it was the appearance of the first new issue of the Polish edition of F&SF Magazine, in electronic form.

It contains my story “The Last Osama”, as well as a long interview with me, conducted by editor Konrad Walewski. It’s pretty cool, and available on the Kindle, so if you read Polish, I highly recommend it!

It shows the continuing evolution of the field in the Twenty-First Century, as new types of people with new perspective and new approaches continue to come into it, people who might not have fit comfortably into John W. Campbell’s largely white, male, middle-class, American stable of writers at ANALOG in the ’30s and ’40s.

I am very fortunate to have not one but two stories in the current volume – Central Station story “Under the Eaves” and “The Memcordist” (set in the same future-history milieu of the Continuity).

Here is the cover:

And here is the table of contents:

“Weep For Day” by Indrapramit Das

“The Man” by Paul Mcauley

“The Memcordist” by Lavie Tidhar

“The Girl-thing Who Went Out For Sushi” by Pat Cadigan

“Holmes Sherlock” by Eleanor Arnason

“Nightfall On The Peak Of Eternal Light” by Richard A. Lovett And William Gleson